Busch Light Boxes Make Green Flames

Sunset in the Mojave Desert

Bailey - Kelso Dunes Mojave Desert

I love this picture - Bailey is SO zen

The next few pictures are a 360 view from the top of the Kelso Dunes in the Mojave Desert

Scroll through them quickly to get the real-time effect

I know there's a lot of pictures of Bailey here but look how regal he is!

The Kelso Sand Dunes in the Mojave Desert

These roads go on for ever. In a straight line even! Quite a dramatic change from the coast.

Red Hot sausages with chanterelles and onions. Yumm.

"Camp" in the desert

Near Zabriskie Point - Death Valley

Dana at Zabriskie Point - Death Valley

Breathtaking Views

Date Farm in Death Valley

Remains of Borax Mine in Death Valley

Borax in Death Valley

The Prowler and 'Ole Giddyup-Go in Death Valley

Jon at Mosaic Canyon - Death Valley

Marble smooth walls polished by occasional flooding

Conglomerates make for some interesting textures

Rock Cairn in Mosaic Canyon - Death Valley

This is what waterfalls look like in Death Valley

A little ironic with all this beautiful scenery around

Barrel Cactus

Salt - Lots of it!

4-bying time!

Bakersfield California

View from the truck

My you look delicious...

Old farmhouses always look so desolate

When nuclear warfare or global warming or any other worldwide event eradicates life as we know it on the planet, I know that I will be perfectly fine. I know this because my husband can fix anything and find food in the most unlikely of places.

We were heading out of San Francisco on the San Mateo Bridge when Jon belts out a litany of cusswords that even my 'Ole Granpappy wouldn't say. Turns out, one of our wheels broke off. Yeah, not just the tire or anything simple like that - a whole entire wheel came flying off the trailer. Luckily we recovered the missing wheel and were able to hobble our giant caravan the rest of the way into San Mateo. We recieved discouraging news (and quotes up to $450) from mechanics at several shops. In the end, Jon found the parts and fixed it all by himself for under $100. Brilliant! - and we were on our way once more...

Many things have surprised me about this trip. Jon's complete knack for self-sufficiency, my willingness to live in this camper forever, the wide variety of meals that can be made with hot dogs, and last, but not least, that this country is so incredibly beautiful...and ugly. For the most part I have preferred overseas travel to nearby locations in the U.S. I couldn't imagine the fantastic diversity, giant wildernesses, and wide open spaces that are less than a day's drive from home. This last week has been an experience in contrast. We started out on the beautiful coastline between Frisco and L.A. The area north of San Luis Obispo is the most gorgeous coast I've seen so far. Then we hopped over the mountains and headed into the desert. Feels like we made a trip to the moon.

Before I get too far ahead of myself, let me tell you about Monterey. There seemed to be no end to the homeless folks in Monterey. Signs were posted up everywhere announcing a $200 fine for sleeping in your car overnight in California. I was chatting with a woman while checking out a pelican in a parking lot. With a start, I realized that she was standing next to her home (a van) complete with 3 cats. She said she was homeless because of her cats. She went on to say she had a real affinity for animals close to extinction. I thought maybe she was referring to the pelican, but she was pointing at her cats. While trying to stifle my laughter, I asked if she knew of a good place to park for the night in a fifth wheel. She hooked us up with 3 great hassle-free locations. That night we were surrounded by no less than 5 other "gypsies" in the Home Depot parking lot.

We had to check out the aquuarium in Monterey and decided it was well deserving of it's reputation. The blank stares on the animals in zoos always make me feel uneasy and depressed. Somehow aquariums give me the opposite feeling. Staring at fish swimming back and forth puts me in a zen-like state for hours. We didn't get out of there for about 5 hours.

We then we made our way further down the coast and just happened to see an elephant seal on the side of the highway. Well, I didn't - Jon did. Jon's hawk eyes pick up everything, while I see the world through a horse's blinders. We pulled over and walked down to the beach where we found...elephant seals! Hundreds of them, just lounging, squawking at eachother, fighting over babes, dusting themselves with sand, and generally looking like they had not a care in the world - not even us. We were hoping to watch the males get in a fight. These suckers were larger than a horse. There was plenty of posturing but the only sign off violence was the giant gashes and teeth marks on each of the males. Remarkably, each one of the females had a baby she was nursing at her side.

As we drive down coast, it occurs to me that everything about the coast has changed. The changes happen so subtly over the miles that you don't realize it until suddenly, everything is different; the trees, the grass, the animals, even the coast line. There's no denying the magic of Oregon's coastlines, but you can see there's a reason why so many people live in California. And yet, nearly our whole journey has been through towns with less than 500 people and no cell phone reception. The coast has felt pretty empty and wild.

Next stop was the Hearst Castle. For those of you unfamiliar with William Randolf Hearst, the publishing magnate and politician; Hearst Castle is one of dozens of homes owned by Hearst. According to our tour guide (who seemed to be Hearst's biggest fan) he was a humanitarian opposed to Mussolini, Hitler, and the Klu-Klux-Klan even when they were in favor in America. The castle rivalled Versailles in its outrageous displays of spanish, roman, and mediterranean art. Sculptures and tapestries abounded and Hearst obviously had more money than he knew what to do with. Hearst Castle once boasted the largest privately owned zoo in the U.S., complete with lions, tigers, bears, zebras, and various species of antelope. Zebras still roam the 500 sq. miles of property and 50 miles of coastline. Citizen Kane and The Great Gatsby were both written wbout Hearst. Though his father was quite wealthy and could have easily set Hearst up with a multi-million dollar business, Hearst was determined to make a living in newspapers. His father purchased The San Francisco Chronicle for Hearst, which at the time was hemorraging money. Hearst was able to turn it around and become one of the wealthiest men that the world has ever seen.

I love any town with commercial fishing boats. This is Morro Bay California

I decided to call up my friend Jessica in Morro Bay and drop by for a visit. Lucky for us it was Jessica's birthday that very day! Jessica and her daughter Amanda are both taking karate - Amanda is a fifth level red belt (only one belt away from a black belt!). Jessica was kind enough to take me along for her karate lesson, where I learned flying side kicks, summersaults, parries, and many other things - KIIIIYAHHHH!!!!! Most of the class was made up of adolescent boys and the best part was when the sensei gave two of the rowdiest a pair of nerf bats and told them to go to town on each other.

Amanda, Jon, and I had some some extremely competitive bouts of Wii Sports and I'm pleased to say that the karate class helped out my boxing immensely.

Amanda is in 4H and has her own goat, Bella, the most adorable, frolicking, jumping up on piles of wood little goat ever! She let us come with her to feed and train it. Amanda and Bella got first and second place in two different categories at their last fair! Next year they are going to start milking Bella. I am SOO jealous.

Jessica and Amanda also took us for a great little kayak trip where we headed over to a huge sand spit to check out the surfers on a gorgeous sunny day. All in all, it seems that Jessica has found and amazingly chill town to settle down in. We're putting Morro Bay on our list.

Nothing like the good cheap thrills of standing next to giant surf coming over a jetty

Surfing AND Commercial fishing? Now we're definitely hooked on Morro Bay

Morro Bay Harbor - This is where we did some kayaking

"The Rock" - Morro Bay, California

Indoor Swimming Pool at Hearst Castle

This is gold inlaid tile

Ceiling at Hearst Castle

Dining Room at Hearst Castle

One of the many tapestries at Hearst Castle

One of the sitting rooms at Hearst Castle

Dana at Hearst Castle

Outdoor swimming pool at Hearst Castle

Hearst Castle

Ahhh...elephant seals are adorable

at first we thought they were driftwood...

Someone built these chairs for us

This mushroom is called a Yellow Stainer for the bright yellow spot

that shows up when you rub it

Someone had a killer house on the river in the valley that this bridge passes over -

with an overlook flooded by pelicans

Monterey Bay - famous for...tourists

and an aquarium

How can there be animals that look this amazing? (Sea Dragon)

Pictures don't do it justice (Sea Dragon)

Sea Anenomes

I Know! Wow!

Jon in Monterey Bay

One of our gypsy neighbors in the Home Depot Parking Lot

These are the biggest pickles I have ever seen

This pelican looks lost

So yeah...our wheel fell off on the San Mateo Bridge on our way out of San Francisco.

We've been out in the desert for the last few days; Death Valley, The Mojave Desert, and now Joshua Tree. I'm currently sitting in a cafe in Twenty Nine Palms, a town that seems to exist only to provide a good variety of "Military Hair Cuts" and tattoo parlors for the nearby Marine base. I've always been curious about this place. I have a good buddy named Rob who was stationed here. Many of his stories begin with "This one time in Vegas..." or "this one time in Thailand..."

Desert towns are bizzarre. They pop up out of nowhere - after driving miles without seeing anything - and you ask yourself, why on earth they would choose this location to settle. Apparently, people were able to make a bundle off of the naturally occuring Borax, chlorine, and salt that exist out here. Nowadays, many of the houses are boarded up and abandoned. The ghost towns have a mildly depressing feeling to them. We did stumble upon pyramids for sale and one little town that boasted an incredible museum with actual Mammoth bones!

I love the desert for the fact that you can pull off the road into the creosote bushes and park your fifth wheel for the night, let your dog run wild, watch the sun paint beautiful colors on the landscape as the sets, and see the stars in all directions.